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When Stress Shows Up In Your Body
Stress begins in the brain. Or at least, that's what conventional wisdom says. And maybe it does. Begin there, that is. Too much thinking. Too much worrying. Too many thoughts racing around in too little space. But the notion that stress is "all in your mind" is long past its expiration date and is in dire need of a serious upgrade. For example: Sometimes stress shows up in your shoulders. Your stomach. Your jaw. Your restless feet. Your inability to relax even when you are bone tired. That’s because stress is not just a thought. It’s a whole-body experience. And sometimes the most useful support is not something that knocks you out. It’s something that helps your body get the message that it is safe to stand down. Quick Answer Relaxing Lavender + L-Theanine combines two well-studied ingredients to support a calmer nervous system without leaving you sleepy, foggy, or checked out. It was designed for the moments when your body needs to unwind, but your brain still needs to function. At a Glance Stress can be physical as well as mental. Feeling tense, restless, overstimulated, or “wired but tired” may be signs that your nervous system needs a little help shifting gears. L-Theanine supports relaxed brain activity while helping preserve alertness and focus.2,3 Oral lavender has been studied for relaxation, stress support, and sleep quality.4–6 Relaxing Lavender + L-Theanine is designed for calm during the day and easier unwinding at night—not as a sedative or a conventional sleep aid. Why Stress Can Feel So Physical Your mind and body are not running separate stress programs. When your brain decides that something requires your attention, it sends signals throughout the body. Whether that is a genuine emergency, a packed calendar, a difficult conversation, or simply too much stimulation, your nervous system prepares you to respond. When your stress response kicks in, you may notice: Muscles tighten Breathing gets shallower Your stomach may feel unsettled You become more alert, more reactive, and less able to simply be still. That response is useful when you need to slam on the brakes, avoid a falling object, or get yourself out of danger. It is less useful when it stays switched on long after the danger has passed. And that is the problem for many of us. We are not necessarily having a crisis. We are just spending too much of the day physically braced for one. That is why a calmer nervous system can make such a difference. Not because it makes life’s demands disappear. Because it can help your body stop treating every demand as an emergency. Calm Doesn’t Have to Mean Checked Out For a lot of people, this is the catch. They would love to feel less tense, less reactive, and less as if their internal alarm system has been going off all day. But they do not want to feel drugged. They have work to do. Conversations to have. Decisions to make. Kids to pick up. A life to participate in. They don’t want to trade stress for sleepiness. That’s one reason L-theanine has attracted so much interest. How L-Theanine Supports Relaxation Without Sedation L-Theanine is an amino acid found naturally in green tea. It has been studied for its ability to support a relaxed state while helping maintain alertness and mental clarity. In other words, it is not about shutting your brain down. It is about helping it stop acting as if every email, traffic jam, and minor inconvenience is a five-alarm emergency.1,2 Researchers have also looked at L-theanine’s effects on alpha brain waves—patterns of brain activity associated with a relaxed but awake state. In one human study, a 200 mg dose increased alpha-wave activity within about 40 to 60 minutes.3 That is a very different goal from sedation. Sedation says, “Let’s turn the lights down.” Relaxation says, “Let’s turn the volume down.” One makes it harder to show up. The other may make it easier. And that distinction matters, especially for people whose stress tends to show up in the body first: tight muscles, restlessness, overstimulation, and difficulty winding down after a long day. Why Add Lavender? Most of us know lavender as a scent. A candle. A bath product. A sachet your grandmother kept in a drawer somewhere. But lavender is more than a pleasant smell. Oral lavender oil—particularly oil from Lavandula angustifolia—has been studied for its ability to support relaxation, a healthy stress response, and sleep quality.4–6 That does not mean lavender is a sleeping pill. In fact, one of the things that makes oral lavender interesting is that it may support calm without simply flattening you. The goal is not to make you feel dull or disconnected. The goal is to help your nervous system move out of that wound-up, over-alert state that makes everything feel harder than it needs to. Why Combine Lavender and L-Theanine? Relaxing Lavender + L-Theanine pairs 200 mg of L-theanine with French lavender oil in a once-daily capsule. Think of it as a two-part approach. L-Theanine helps support that relaxed-but-alert state. Lavender helps support the body’s ability to settle. Together, they are meant for the person who wants to exhale—but not disappear. The Same System That Keeps You On During the Day Can Keep You Up at Night Stress does not always respect business hours. During the day, it may make you feel tense, impatient, scattered, or physically unable to settle into what you’re doing. At night, it may look different—but feel strangely familiar. You finally have a chance to rest. The day is over. Nothing urgent is happening. And yet your body has not gotten the memo. Your mind may not even be racing. But you still feel a little activated. A little restless. A little too awake for someone who was dragging themselves through the afternoon. That’s the “wired but tired” experience. It is not a formal diagnosis. It is simply a phrase people use when exhaustion and activation somehow manage to coexist. And it makes sense. The nervous system does not have an on/off switch. It is constantly adjusting to the demands being placed on it. When stress has kept the system on high alert for much of the day, transitioning into rest may take more than turning off the television and hoping for the best. That is where a formula like Relaxing Lavender + L-Theanine may fit. Supporting Relaxation During the Day and at Night During the day, it is meant to support a calmer, more grounded state without interfering with focus or alertness. At night, that same support for relaxation may help make the transition into rest feel easier. Not because it forces sleep. Because it may help you become less physiologically prepared for battle at 11:30 p.m. Research on L-theanine and lavender also suggests that consistent use may support sleep quality over time—particularly when stress and difficulty unwinding are part of the problem.2,5,6 This Is Not Really a Sleep Supplement That may sound like an odd thing to say when we have just been talking about sleep. But it is important. Relaxing Lavender + L-Theanine is not designed to knock you out at bedtime. It is not a heavy-duty sleep formula, and it is not intended to replace the basics that make sleep possible: a reasonably consistent schedule, darkness, a cool room, and not treating your phone like it is a life-support device. Its real job is more fundamental. It supports relaxation. And relaxation happens to be useful at night. For some people, that may mean taking it when they feel tense or overstimulated during the day. For others, it may mean taking it in the evening, when they know they have a tendency to carry the day straight into bed with them. Either way, the point is the same: Calm the body. Keep the mind clear. And give your nervous system a better chance to do what it already knows how to do. What Kind of Stress Are You Dealing With? Not all stress feels the same. Sometimes it is mostly mental. Your thoughts are racing. You are replaying a conversation from three days ago. You are imagining fourteen possible future disasters, thirteen of which will never happen. That is one kind of stress. But sometimes the story is less about thoughts and more about your body. You feel wound up. Your shoulders are tight. You’re fidgety. You feel overstimulated by ordinary things. You can’t quite come down from the day, even when there is no particular thought you need to solve. That is the lane Relaxing Lavender + L-Theanine was designed for. Calm My Brain vs. Relaxing Lavender + L-Theanine BrainMD’s Calm My Brain is intended more for acute mental stress—racing thoughts, anxious mental chatter, and the feeling that your brain has too many browser tabs open. Relaxing Lavender + L-Theanine is aimed more at the body’s stress response: tension, restlessness, overstimulation, and difficulty unwinding. Of course, real life is not always that tidy. Sometimes the body is tense because the mind is racing. Sometimes the mind races because the body has been braced for impact all day. But it can still be helpful to ask a simple question: Is my stress mostly living in my thoughts—or mostly living in my body? If it is the second one, this formula may be worth considering. Calm My Brain Relaxing Lavender + L-Theanine Stress tends to feel Mental Physical Think Racing thoughts, mental chatter Tension, restlessness, overstimulation Primary focus Acute mental stress Relaxation without feeling sleepy What Should You Expect? The first thing to understand is that relaxation and sleep are not the same thing. How Quickly Does L-Theanine Work? You may notice a sense of feeling less tense, less physically “on edge,” or more able to settle within the first hour after taking it. Research on L-theanine suggests relaxation-supporting effects may begin within about 30 to 60 minutes.3 But that does not mean every benefit appears on a stopwatch. Stress resilience, nighttime relaxation, and sleep quality are usually more like fitness than like flipping a switch. Your nervous system responds to what you do consistently. For that reason, Relaxing Lavender + L-Theanine can be used as part of a daily routine—especially if you know that tension, overstimulation, or trouble unwinding are recurring parts of your life. How to Take Relaxing Lavender + L-Theanine One capsule provides 200 mg of L-theanine and 40 mg of Pharmako CPO® French lavender oil powder. BrainMD recommends taking one capsule daily, ideally on an empty stomach. You can take it during the day when you want calm without sacrificing clarity. Or you can take it in the evening when you are ready to begin letting the day go. The timing matters less than the purpose. You are not trying to check out. You are just trying to feel like yourself again. __________________________________________________ Frequently Asked Questions Will Relaxing Lavender + L-Theanine make me sleepy? It is designed to promote relaxation without making you feel sedated, foggy, or mentally checked out. L-Theanine has been studied for supporting a relaxed-but-alert state, which is why this formula can be used during the day when you still want to stay focused and present.2,3 Can I take it during the day or at night? Either. During the day, it may be helpful when stress is showing up as tension, restlessness, or overstimulation. At night, it may support a more relaxed transition into rest—especially if you tend to carry the day’s stress into bed with you. How fast does it work? Some people may notice a more relaxed feeling within the first hour. Research on L-theanine suggests relaxation-supporting effects can begin in about 30 to 60 minutes.3 Other benefits, including support for nighttime relaxation and sleep quality, may build with consistent use over time. Is it habit-forming? No. Relaxing Lavender + L-Theanine is a dietary supplement, not a sedative medication, and it is not considered habit-forming. Can I take it every day? Yes. One capsule daily can be used as part of an ongoing routine for nervous-system support, or when you know you are heading into a particularly stressful stretch. Can I take it with medications? If you take prescription medication, have a medical condition, or are under a healthcare professional’s care, check with your clinician before adding any new supplement to your routine. The same goes for anyone who is pregnant or breastfeeding. The Bottom Line You do not have to be in crisis to want to feel calmer. You do not have to be having a panic attack to notice that your body is holding too much tension. And you do not have to choose between feeling relaxed and being able to function. Sometimes the most useful kind of support is not the kind that makes you sleepy. It is the kind that helps you unclench your jaw, drop your shoulders, take a fuller breath, and move through your day without feeling as if your nervous system is one bad email away from sounding the alarm. That is what Relaxing Lavender + L-Theanine was designed to support: Calm for your body. Clarity for your mind. ___________________________________________________________ References Kimura K, Ozeki M, Juneja LR, Ohira H. L-Theanine reduces psychological and physiological stress responses. Biological Psychology. 2007;74(1):39–45. doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2006.06.006 Hidese S, Ogawa S, Ota M, et al. Effects of L-Theanine administration on stress-related symptoms and cognitive functions in healthy adults: A randomized controlled trial. Nutrients. 2019;11(10):2362. doi:10.3390/nu11102362 Kobayashi K, Nagato Y, Aoi N, Juneja LR, Kim M, Yamamoto T, Sugimoto S. Effects of L-Theanine on the release of α-brain waves in human volunteers. Nippon Nōgeikagaku Kaishi. 1998;72(2):153–157. doi:10.1271/nogeikagaku1924.72.153 Donelli D, Antonelli M, Bellinazzi C, Gensini GF, Firenzuoli F. Effects of lavender on anxiety: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Phytomedicine. 2019;65:153099. doi:10.1016/j.phymed.2019.153099 Chen TY, Hiyama A, Muramatsu M, Hinotsu A. The effect of lavender on sleep quality in individuals without insomnia: A systematic review. Holistic Nursing Practice. 2022;36(4):223–231. doi:10.1097/HNP.0000000000000528 Müller WE, Sillani G, Schuwald A, Friedland K. Pharmacological basis of the anxiolytic and antidepressant properties of Silexan®, an essential oil from the flowers of lavender. Neurochemistry International. 2021;143:104899. doi:10.1016/j.neuint.2020.104899 These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This article is for educational purposes and is not a substitute for medical advice. Talk with your healthcare professional before beginning any new supplement, especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, taking medication, or managing a health condition.
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Lavender Benefits: What Science Says About Lavender Oil, Stress, Mood, and Sleep
Lavender may do more than smell relaxing! Explore lavender benefits for mood, sleep, and stress, plus what science says about oral lavender oil.
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Cortisol Detox: Do You Need One?
Do you really need a cortisol detox? Learn how cortisol affects your brain and body, plus healthy ways to support your natural stress response.
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What Happens in Your Brain During Public Speaking
Why does public speaking make your heart race and your mind go blank? Learn what happens in your brain and body when all eyes are on you.
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How to Cope with Stress: 6 Things You Can Do to Reduce Stress
Are you so overwhelmed with daily responsibilities that you feel you just can't keep up? While many in our society wear the "I'm More Stressed Than You" badge of honor, being overly stressed really isn't something to brag about. In fact, too much stress can be detrimental to your brain and overall health. So, in order to live a more stress-free life each day, you must learn how to cope with stress the right way. 6 Things You Can Do to Reduce Stress Use the following S-T-R-E-S-S acrostic to help reduce the stress in your life. Try these 6 strategies today to help you manage and cope with stress in a more positive way. Each of these strategies has been proven to reduce stress and promote relaxation in stressful situations. S – Social Connections By building and maintaining good, healthy, helpful relationships, you can feel understood and cared for. When you care for and attend to others, it allows you to get outside of yourself and you often find your perceptions are transformed. This leads to discovering new ideas about how to solve your own problems. Furthermore, when you care for others and feel cared for, your brain releases oxytocin, the “bonding” hormone, which can counteract many of the negative effects of stress. Also, never underestimate the power of being around the right people! The health habits of the people you spend time with have a dramatic impact on your own health and habits. So surround yourself with people who are happy, upbeat, and kind. T – Therapy/Meditation At the heart of many types of therapy is learning about ANTs – which stands for Automatic Negative Thoughts—the cynical, gloomy and complaining thoughts that come into your mind automatically. Think of these negative thoughts like ANTs at a picnic that infest your mind and spirit and ruin your day. Learning how to kill the ANTs and develop an internal ANTeater is incredibly effective at reducing the stress and anxiety in your life. Therapy can also help you clear up past traumas that might trigger you and cause more stress in your life. Meditation is a wonderful way to soothe your mind and help you create a state of deep relaxation. Interestingly enough, meditating actually stimulates the brain; increasing blood flow to the areas responsible for attention and forethought, while calming down the areas that perceive pain. And you can receive the positive benefits of meditating in just minutes per day. R – Relaxation Techniques By using relaxation techniques, you will gain better control over the stress and anxiety that is ruining your health and happiness. Deep breathing is one such relaxation technique and a very effective method for overcoming stress; one that can be done anywhere, anytime! When you take shallow breaths, it reduces the amount of oxygen that reaches your brain cells, reducing overall brain function. As you inhale, let your belly expand. When you exhale, pull your belly in to push the air out of your lungs. This allows you to expel more air, which in turn, encourages you to inhale more deeply. So we challenge you to try taking deep breaths and let your mind and body start to relax. E – Exercise Exercise will help you manage stress by immediately lowering stress hormones and helping you become more resistant to stress over time. Raising your heart rate through exercise also makes you better handle stress because it raises beta-endorphins, the brain’s own natural morphine! Consistent exercise will prepare you for the obstacles you may face like being in stressful situations. Exercise also helps you maintain a strong mind and body can help equip you to handle possible crises in your future. S – Sleep Sleep deprivation is hazardous to your health! Skimping on sleep can affect your health in more ways than you might imagine and definitely makes you more susceptible to stress. If you aren’t getting the recommended 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night, you’re setting yourself up for a host of physical and mental issues. When you fall behind on sleep, blood flow to your brain decreases and you are much more likely to make poor decisions. Be sure that your sleep hygiene is sound by turning off electronics at least one hour before bedtime, avoid caffeine, sugar, and alcohol later in the day, avoid naps, keep your bedroom dark and cool, and avoid exercising vigorously late in the evening. S – Supplement Natural relaxation substances can be incredibly effective in reducing stress. Drink some spearmint or chamomile teas. Put dried lavender in a vase near your bed. Use calming essential oil aromas such as clary sage, bergamot, or ylang-ylang. Or try BrainMD's Everyday Stress Relief, which helps replenish your brain and body’s nutrients that can be depleted during times of increased stress. It includes herbal extracts clinically proven to have calming and anti-stress effects, helping to ease anxiousness without causing sleepiness. This formula helps you cope with apprehension, tension, worry, and fatigue. This safe, non-sedating, and non-habit-forming formula combines the multiple beneficial actions of these well-studied herbs and nutrients to help your brain and body cope with stress on multiple levels. “This is what I take when I’m stressed,” says Dr. Daniel Amen. “And it works.” You have a choice about how you respond to the stress in your life!
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Relax Your Mind With GABA
Do you often feel worked up, irritable or sad for no good reason? Do you spend a lot of your time feeling stressed and worried? Not as interested in having fun? Have friends or family members expressed their concerns over your well-being? Though there could be any number of explanations for what you’re going through, one possibility is that your neurons aren't releasing neurotransmitters at optimal levels. Our brains may use as many as 100 different neurotransmitters, with GABA being one of the most important. What Are Neurotransmitters? Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that neurons (nerve cells) release to allow them to communicate with other neurons. The neurotransmitter most associated with calming effects in the brain is GABA (technically Gamma-AminoButyric Acid). Clinical research suggests taking GABA by mouth can help cope with stress, improve mood, and generally have calming effects. What Can GABA Do for You? In addition to rhyming with the feel-good 70s group ABBA, GABA has been found by clinical research to help reduce stress and produce groovy feelings. This neurotransmitter’s primary effect is believed to be holding back our nerve cells from excess firing. GABA also is fundamentally important for the healthy maturation of new nerve cells (neurogenesis) and for the overall development and maintenance of the brain. Also, GABA has mild relaxation properties that can support a balanced mood and restful sleep. Lower levels of this neurotransmitter in some brain regions has been linked to mood challenges, difficulties with self-control, and excessive worry. Gamma-amino-butyric acid (GABA) is an amino acid and neurotransmitter that regulates brain excitability by inhibiting excessive firing of neurons, resulting in a sense of calm. Supplementing with GABA can help flip the "off" switch on worrisome, ruminating thoughts by supporting the body’s natural mechanism for quieting the mind. Are You Low on GABA? If you’ve suffered emotional trauma or are under a great deal of stress, it's possible your GABA levels are less than optimal and contributing to your feeling anxious, unmotivated, uptight, or just plain sad. If you tend to predict the worst, are wracked with nervousness, have chronic muscle tension or other stress-related feelings, it might be worth taking steps to increase your brain GABA levels. If you’re one of the millions of Americans struggling with mood or sleep problems, the good news is that you do have a shot to get control of these feelings. Try these five steps to start living a happier life… 5 Ways to Calm Your Mind Using GABA Be Grateful One way to boost your mood and reduce anxiety is to write down five things you are grateful for every day. Research suggests that focusing on gratitude helps to calm your deep limbic areas and enhance the other judgment centers of the brain. When you focus on what you love, your brain works better, and you’ll have a chance to feel better. You'll likely notice a significant positive difference in your level of happiness over a pretty brief period. Do Yoga and Get a Massage Practicing yoga and getting massages can do more than improve your physical function. Clinical studies indicate that both are beneficial for improving mood and coping with stress. Massage can lower the stress hormone cortisol while increasing the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin, which work cooperatively with GABA. Yoga actually can increase brain GABA while improving anxious feelings and overall mood. Soothing Tunes Listening to soothing music can help relieve stress by triggering biochemical stress reducers in your brain. Due to an increase in dopamine levels, music can also improve mood, boost energy, and help with focus and concentration. When used properly, music is medicine. Stress Reducing Strategies When you’re under stress, your body cortisol and other messengers that push your brain to seek out rewards—cravings. For many of us, cravings are triggered by unpleasant emotions, including stress and anxiety, as well as being sleep deprived due to stress. Making sure to get enough sleep can reduce cravings and help you feel level-headed enough to deal with the cravings. Rather than giving in to your cravings, utilize stress management techniques—take a vigorous walk, do yoga, or relax in a hot bath. Meditation, diaphragmatic breathing, intense exercise, hypnosis and optimizing vitamin D levels are also great ways to improve self-control and make better judgment calls so that you truly control your brain. GABA Calming Support GABA Calming Support is a unique combination of clinically proven ingredients that help cope with restlessness, irritability and other challenges associated with occasional anxiety. This supplement provides GABA chemically identical to the GABA our nerve cells make. It also contains ingredients that help our nerve cells respond better to GABA. At BrainMD, we’re dedicated to providing the highest quality supplements to improve your physical health and overall well-being. For more information about GABA Calming Support and our full list of brain healthy supplements, please visit us at BrainMD. *These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This content is for informational purposes only. It is not meant to substitute for medical or healthcare advice from a physician, nor is it intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Consult your healthcare provider before beginning a new health regimen.
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